For many years, electronic terminal devices have been installed and used in access control systems in connection with passive RFID transponders (Radio Frequency Identifier). The electronic terminal devices were configured as short-range communication devices and included RFID readers for reading in a wireless fashion access rights or at least user identifiers from RFID transponders to control access to an access controlled area, such as a building or a room, or to access controlled objects, such as a car or goods in a vending machine, etc. With the arrival of mobile radio phones (cellular phones, smart phones) that included active RFID-based communication interfaces, so called NFC interfaces (Near Field Communication), it became possible to use such mobile communication apparatuses as carriers of access rights rather than passive RFID transponders in form of RFID cards, dongles, or the like. Both operators and users of access control systems welcomed the provision of mobile communication apparatuses with radio-based communication modules for establishing local or direct wireless communication links with short-range communication devices, because it was no longer necessary to use special purpose RFID transponders in form of RFID cards, dongles, or the like. Furthermore, the mobile communication apparatuses included other communication interfaces for short-range communication, such as Bluetooth (BT) or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), which lead to the short-range communication devices being additionally equipped with such further communication interfaces to improve flexibility and versatility. Nevertheless, while the use of mobile communication apparatuses and improved flexibility and versatility of short-range communication devices further increased the number of applications and installations of short-range communication devices, the secure management and control of access rights and credentials for the short-range communication devices remained a challenge and, typically, required laborious and costly wiring of the terminals to back-end systems. Moreover, so called stand-alone or off-line terminals without communication links to back-end systems are difficult to maintain and keep up to date with the frequent software upgrades and hardware innovations of mobile phones, in particular, and the short product life cycles customary in the world of consumer electronic products, in general.